Happy Little Prisoners (Blog Post 4)

Welcome readers,

I would just like to take this time to let you know that you’re among friends. There’s no judgement here. Don’t feel afraid to admit when you need help. Now, who among you are addicted to the internet? Facebook? Your friendly email inbox? Are you sitting in front of a computer screen right now? Just close your eyes and raise your hand if this is true. Now open them. Is anyone looking at you strangely? Do you feel like an idiot? That’s because if you followed my instructions, you probably are.

Jokes and therapy sessions aside, this week’s readings painted a fairly negative picture of the cyber world, in which we are prisoners who have chosen our cage in the belief that we’re being set free. Thinking about my own internet behaviour I had to admit I felt an affinity to the people in the ‘Function Creep’ article as having a laptop with the internet does mean that the line between my work and play has practically disappeared.  No hour of the day or night is sacred from the possibility of doing my readings or blog posts, my days off are generally ‘catch up’ days, and I usually have about five internet tabs open at once.

Although I can see how this could be a problem and a drain, the thought of changing my habits makes hyperventilate just a little. For as much as the internet monopolises my time, it still gives me this feeling of freedom; as through Skype and Facebook I can keep in constant contact with friends overseas, on ITunes I can buy the album I feel like listening to any time I wish and when I have procrastinated on yet another assignment, I can still access useful journal articles at 2am the night before it’s due.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, rather than either condemning or idealising the internet and our use of it, we should simply try to be more aware of both its pros and cons. This can give us the power to use it rather than simply feel caught by it. It seems to me that in general our networks have grown exponentially as has our dependence on them, but that these networks are much more fragile.  I know of people who, tired of having a large Facebook network, have deleted 100+ ‘friends’ in one night, with very little consequence. If we put too much value in such a network we’ll find less security, but more anxiety as we simultaneously feel like the network ‘depends’ on our input while knowing we are dependent on its inevitable fluctuations. However if we’re able to see the bigger picture, we may be able to use the technology to our advantage without sacrificing too much; that is, we might be able to keep the keys to our cells and go for a walk outside every now and then.